


happily ever after

by smokygull



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, idk those tags are a mess sorry, just in case??, modern!royalty au, prince/valet, sexual interactions, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 17:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9083119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokygull/pseuds/smokygull
Summary: without jongdae, baekhyun’s happy ending wouldn’t be complete.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for the [daelightsaving](http://daelightsaving.livejournal.com/) fic fest last year; don't look at the post on livejournal tho because i fucked up the spacing so bad. it's not my best work but definitely the longest one i ever wrote. ( i split it into two parts for easier reading )

and they lived happily ever after;

that's how every fairytale ends. everyone knows that, it's very simple, because in the end love _always_ wins. it's an important lesson, baekhyun's internalized over the years, after devouring story after story, after reading countless tales of heroic princes who save their beloved princesses from the claws of evil wizards and witches, after reading stories of pure girls, filled with kindness and gentleness who learn others how to love and fight for what they believe in, reach out for their dreams. 

the good ones, the heroes, always win over the villains.

he read about so many happy endings, that it kind of feels like he's been there, like he's been with them as the kiss of true love saved the kingdom, saved them, saved everyone.

and as time passed, baekhyun started to believe that there is a happy ending out there, waiting for him as well. 

as a prince he is bound to end up happy, isn't he?

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


bright light floods the entire room, bathes everything in a soft morning glow when the curtains are drawn open. it’s the quiet tap of footsteps on the wooden floorboards, though, that slowly pulls him away from his dreams, that brings him back from his deep slumber. however, this doesn’t mean he wants to wake up yet, so baekhyun nuzzles his face deeper into the soft and cozy duvet and turns around on the mattress and away from the too bright sunlight.

“good morning, young master”, a way too familiar voice speaks softly and it doesn’t matter that he’s still half-asleep, he’d recognize this voice anywhere, “it’s time to wake up.”

baekhyun only grumbles in response and pulls the duvet up to his nose.

“young master”, the voice calls out a second time and a hand starts carefully threading through the tousled mess of his hair. he sighs contentedly at the touch and it’s such a comforting feeling that baekhyun almost drifts back into sleep.  


“young master, please wake up."

this time baekhyun manages to slowly open his eyes, his hands coming up to his face immediately in an attempt to rub the sleep out of them. he yawns widely without covering his mouth and drowsily looks up at his valet, who has a small but satisfied smile resting on his cat-like lips. and baekhyun thinks he’s blessed, because the first sight he gets to see every morning is jongdae’s beautiful face.

“do you want to eat your breakfast here in your chambers or down in the dining hall?”  


“here”, baekhyun answers as he sits up on the bed. and he only requests to eat in here, because he knows that jongdae will stay with him the entire time until he finishes up before attending his other duties.  


jongdae bows slightly in acknowledgment and baekhyun silently watches him walking over to the door to inform the maid waiting outside about his decision. when the door clicks shut again, baekhyun pulls the duvet off his body and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. “i dreamt about us”, he says with a dreamy smile on his lips as his valet starts looking through baekhyun’s huge closet to find something suitable for him to wear for the day.  


baekhyun knows he’s going to give him a crisp white dress shirt and black dress pants in the end, like he does every other morning.  


“you did?”, jongdae asks, back turned to him.  


“about when we were little”, and jongdae spins around at these words, clothes tightly clutched in his hands. the look in his eyes softens, there’s also a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and baekhyun knows he’s thinking about it too; about the times they used to run around the estate while playing countless games of catch, about the times only their loud laughter and their happy shrieks were enough to fill the wide and empty halls of the mansion, about the times they never let go of each other’s hands for even a minute.  


“please go and wash up before the breakfast arrives, young master.” jongdae pulls him out of his thoughts and hands the usual dress shirt and pants over to him.  


baekhyun just nods and gets up to shuffle over to the adjoining bathroom, suddenly missing the way his name used to sound when rolling off the tip the others tongue.  


his mind easily drifts away once more with all those old memories welling up inside baekhyun, accompanied with this odd sense of nostalgia and he doesn’t even notice that he got entirely ready all by himself when he steps back into his chambers.  


it’s yet again his valet who gets him out of the tangled mess of thoughts with a light chuckle. “did you even brush your hair?”, he asks and walks over to baekhyun to fix his hair with an amused expression.  


baekhyun just raises his hands and lets them rest on jongdae’s waist. he gently pulls him closer and a huge smile sneaks itself on his lips, when the other doesn’t even freeze in his movements and just keeps smoothing his hair down, combs through the soft strands with his fingers.  


there’s a knock on the door all of a sudden, interrupting them, and jongdae quickly takes two big steps away from baekhyun to bring enough space between them. his face is immediately back to its usual guarded expression, every trace of a smile completely gone and baekhyun just grumbles unhappily as he allows the maid to enter.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


with a sigh baekhyun’s gaze wanders from his desk filled with piles of various books, most of them opened at random pages, back out of the huge window he’s currently standing in front of.

from here he as a rather good view into the inner courtyard of the estate; or better said: he has a rather good view on jongdae, who’s dutifully sweeping the yard’s stone floors with the aid of two other maids. they’re talking and laughing, there’s a cute smile gracing jongdae’s lips and baekhyun wishes he could be with them.  


he’d actually prefer cleaning, something he’d never done before, in the company of others than sitting around, hauled up in his study like any other day with only books and even more books surrounding him.  


“you’re pouting again, young master.”  


baekhyun shrieks ungracefully and flinches at the voice, startled that suddenly someone is standing next to him, he didn’t notice someone entering the room, he didn’t hear a knock. he twirls around and faces kyungsoo, whose eyes are still directed outside, following the movements of the three valets.  


“you startled me”, baekhyun whines, “and i’m not pouting!”  


kyungsoo looks back at him, his lips curling into a barely noticeable smile. “i brought some tea”, he says, bowing lightly in front of him and then makes a gesture towards the desk where a serving tray with steaming tea and a plate full of cookies is waiting for him.  


it actually conjures a huge smile on baekhyun’s lips and he skips over to the table, groping at the cutely shaped cookies. “did you bake again?”, he asks, shoving the sweets into his mouth.  


kyungsoo nods, “yes, the chef left the kitchen in my hands for today.”  


and baekhyun whistles at that. kyungsoo’s younger than him and technically just a kitchen boy, an assistant to the chef who’s usually only allowed to clean the dishes and peel potatoes. kyungsoo, though, is exceptionally talented so the kitchen chef often lets him do some of the important main work, like cooking the royal family’s main course.  


it never fails to amaze baekhyun, especially when his mouth is stuffed with the boy’s cookies that taste better than any other pastry he’s ever eaten before.  


he sighs contently, munching and washing down the cookies with some quick sips of chamomile tea, before turning his attention back to kyungsoo. “you wouldn’t tattle to the teacher if i try to sneak away from the lesson, right?”, he asks, voice sweet but with a smug grin on his face.  


the boy doesn’t say anything, just continues looking at him.  


“please, kyungsoo~ i’m tired of listening to the same political talk every single day”, he whines, folding his hands together in a pleadingly manner. it’s no lie, he hates those lessons, they’re boring him out of his mind, he can never concentrate on them. that’s why he more often than not sneaks out of his study before his tutor arrives.  


kyungsoo sighs, narrowing his eyes. “you shouldn’t bother jongdae while he’s working, young master”, he says knowingly and baekhyun starts giggling sheepishly, because he kind of got caught in the act.  


he still slips past him, though, and out of the room, aware that kyungsoo won’t tell anyone that he’s sneaking away to hide somewhere and watch his favorite valet.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


usually baekhyun just quietly hides somewhere and shields himself from the curious eyes of the attendants behind a pillar or something else, sometimes even a huge plant if it means that he can watch jongdae going after his work unseen.

even if he’d like to jump and bounce around the other like the overexcited and cheerful kid he mostly is, he has to avoid being noticed in case his tutor is around, looking for him with this worried and sad expression that’s constantly resting on his face.  


but there are still times where he, despite that he should avoid attracting attention, just can’t help himself, where baekhyun just can’t stand still, where watching isn’t enough.  


“jongdae~”, he shouts, skipping through the hallway excitedly.  


the maid that’s with him looks up at the same time jongdae does and the expression on his face is surprised at first but quickly falls back into a professional and distant one.  


and before baekhyun can throw his outstretched arms around him, jongdae bows deeply in front of him. the maid hurriedly does the same. “isn’t it time for your lessons, young master?”, jongdae asks as he straightens his back again.  


baekhyun just juts his lower lip forwards into a pout as his arms drop back down to his sides. “no”, he lies, “the tutor is sick.”  


he knows jongdae doesn’t believe him, that he knows he’s lying but doesn’t press on the matter. there’s a wary glint in his eyes and his lips are pressed into a tight line. his shoulders are tensed and baekhyun can almost feel how uncomfortable he is with this situation. “is there something you need then, young master?”  


baekhyun shrugs lightly and shakes his head.  


“then please excuse us.” jongdae bows deeply again, as well as the maid, before turning on his heels and continuing to walk down the hall. and baekhyun actually feels his heart dropping in his chest as he looks after him.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


he drops onto his bed with a huff, suddenly feeling oddly exhausted and just lies there unmoving for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. it’s hard not to think about the look on jongdae’s face, about how distant he was compared to his gentleness in the early morning hours.

it’s always like this; jongdae smiling at him in the morning, touching him without hesitation, but when he sees baekhyun around in the hallways, just looking at his direction, there’s no trace of a smile left and it never fails to upset him.  


when did jongdae start acting this way?  


a sigh slips past baekhyun’s lips and he rolls onto his stomach, one of his hands reaching into the bottom drawer of his nightstand, pulling out a heavy book. his fingers run lovingly over the worn out leather cover as he places it down in front of him, opening it up on a random page.  


baekhyun’s eyes flicker over the words underneath the big, beautifully drawn pictures. and a smile appears on his lips, when he sees that he opened the page right at the end of the story, right at the moment where beauty’s tears and love declaration bring the beast back to life.  


they have their happily ever after, and even though it seems a bit more far away every time jongdae tries his best not to lock their eyes when they’re in the hallway, baekhyun knows it will come to him too.  


he’ll get his happily ever after as well.  


he’s a prince, after all.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


“young master, wake up.”  


it’s the voice again, the oh-so familiar voice.  


“at least change into your nightclothes, young master”, the voice continues after a short moment of silence and baekhyun eyes slowly flutter open. he looks up, blinking through heavy lashes and sees his valet’s face, his expression not guarded but his eyebrows are knitted together into a slight frown instead. he looks concerned.  


“it’s uncomfortable to sleep in such clothing”, jongdae says as he helps baekhyun sit up, his hands carefully steadying baekhyun’s shoulders.  


baekhyun just yawns widely, hardly listening because his mind is still in soft slumber, dreaming about stories where love always wins, where the prince saves the princess with a gentle kiss on the lips, where little animals help the poor, mistreated cinderella to grab her chance of happiness and to finally get her well-deserved happy ending.  


“i fell asleep while reading”, he mumbles drowsily and the inside of his mouth feels sticky, it’s gross.  


jongdae’s gaze flickers away from him and to the book that’s still lying opened up on the pillow. some of the pages are wrinkled, because of baekhyun’s face resting on them during his sleep. “you read those fairytales again?”, he asks, his voice laced with something baekhyun can’t identify. maybe he’s disapproving; jongdae was never as fond of fairytales as baekhyun was. while baekhyun almost devoured one story after another, always flipping through huge storybooks, jongdae always said that they’re highly unrealistic, that something like this would never happen in real life.  


he always said it’s stupid to believe in something like this.  


“you know, jongdae”, baekhyun speaks, a sleepy smile resting on his lips, “one day i’ll find my happy ending too.” he closes his eyes again, just wanting to let them rest for a minute.  


they stay shut even as jongdae silently pulls him up from the bed and he stumbles at first, his tired legs not able to hold up the sudden weight of the rest of his body. his valet steadies him again and baekhyun leans against him, sighing happily at the comforting warmth coming from him.  


“young master”, jongdae whispers, but then pushes him away gently to bring more space between them. “stay here.” he walks over to the closet, taking one of baekhuyn’s nightgowns out and carefully placing it on the bed, before he starts unbuttoning the dress shirt baekhyun’s wearing with practiced movements of his fingers.  


baekhyun just watches him with drowsy eyes as jongdae helps him out of his clothes and when he pulls the nightshirt over his head, another dreamy smile appears on his lips. “you’ll be my happy ending, jongdae”, he mumbles affectionately.  


but when he sees the way jongdae’s body tenses up, when he sees the frown reappearing on his face, baekhyun’s smile crumbles. “jongdae, no”, he says, hands slowly reaching up to smooth out the hard lines on the others face. “don’t do this. we’re alone here, jongdae, you don’t have to do this”, baekhyun keeps mumbling and tries to get jongdae to look at him.  


his gaze stays cast to the floor, though, and baekhyun’s not sure what to do to stop jongdae from growing distant again, to stop him from looking at him with those cold eyes that contrast so much with his usual warm expression.  


“it already upsets me so much when you behave like this every time you see me during the day, every time i come close to you outside of my chambers”, he says, his fingers running over the other’s cheeks, gently caressing them. “please don’t be like this too when we’re alone”, baekhyun whispers and jongdae finally looks back up at him, meeting his gaze.  


and that’s when baekhyun leans forward, eyes closing slowly as he softly presses his lips against jongdae’s in a kiss.  


his heart beats wildly in his chest, it feels like it wants to escape, like it wants to jump out of his ribcage through his throat and for a moment baekhyun forgets how to breathe.  


before he can do anything else, before he can decide whether he wants to pull away or move his lips, jongdae yanks himself away from him. his eyes are opened wide and baekhyun notices the deep red that’s flaming on the tip of his ears. “i’m—“, jongdae splutters, not able to continue at first. he just stares at baekhyun in disbelief, but then he hurriedly bows in front of him, “i’m… please go to sleep, young master”, he rambles, mouth stumbling over his flustered words, before he flees out of the room.  


baekhyun’s lips still tingle with a weird and warm sensation when the door noisily slams shut in front of him.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


when baekhyun wakes up the next morning it’s not through whispered words and soft hands rubbing circles over his back, but through a cold voice piercing through his sleep.

jongdae’s posture is stiff, his shoulders are tensed up and his lips are pressed into a thin line instead of a kittenish smile, it causes a longing in baekhyun to change his expression, to make the curly corners of the other’s mouth go up again, it causes a longing in him for warmth.  


baekhyun would’ve pressed the tips of his fingers into the corners of his valet’s mouth to playfully pull them back up, but jongdae looks so uncomfortable, he’s standing so far away from him to bring enough space between them.  


so baekhyun just scrambles out of the bed. “i’m sorry about yesterday”, he says hurriedly, but jongdae just turns his back to him, opening the closet to get a fresh set of dress pants and a white shirt for him. “i shouldn’t have kissed you?” it comes out more like a question and it kind of actually is, because baekhyun doesn’t think it was wrong to kiss him, baekhyun doesn’t regret it.  


jongdae spins around. “exactly! you shouldn’t have!”, his voice is loud and firm, but he doesn’t sound angry; baekhyun’s not sure what exactly the undertone in his voice means.  


sometimes, jongdae is just such a difficult person to read.  


baekhyun takes a step closer to him, the soles of his bare feet prickling uncomfortably on the cold floor tiles. in return jongdae does the same and takes a step back, flinching when he almost stumbles backwards into the closet.  


“you can’t _ever_ do that again.”  


“but i want to kiss you again, jongdae.” he makes another step forward, now standing right in front of his valet. “i really want to kiss you so much.”  


“you can’t, young master”, jongdae answers, sounding upset, now, but he’s holding baekhyun’s gaze.  


“please, can i kiss you?”  


jongdae doesn’t say anything, but baekhyun notices how his eyes flicker down to briefly stare at his lips before wandering back up. smiling brightly, baekhyun reaches out to him to take jongdae’s hand in his, his fingers fitting perfectly in the spaces between jongdae’s.  


the other squeezes his hand as well.  


and then baekhyun leans forward, the same way he did last night, to capture the other’s lips in a soft kiss.  


this time, jongdae doesn’t run away.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


jongdae starts waking baekhyun up with a brief peck on the lips in the mornings.

he does it the same way every day; first, opening all the curtains to let dawn flood the room with golden light, then, crouching down next to the huge bed, right in front of the still half-asleep prince who’s just grumbling unhappily, before gently pressing his lips against baekhyun’s while letting his hands slowly run through his tousled locks of hair.  


every morning he just chuckles shyly when baekhyun’s eyes immediately flutter open at the touch, trying to quickly get away when baekhyun’s hands wriggle out from underneath the silky duvets to pull him into the bed.  


and although it still takes jongdae a short moment to relax into his hold when baekhyun drowsily snuggles up close to him, baekhyun thinks it’s the best way to start a new day.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


every single time, jongdae’s lips lock with his own, baekhyun hears bells ringing loudly in his ears. every single time, jongdae smiles at him, pretty lips curled upwards and his gaze filled with so much warmth, baekhyun’s heart flips around wildly inside his chest.

when they’re close together like this, it kind of feels like he’s already at the end of his story, like his happy ending is already right in front of him.  
maybe, if he just reaches out he can finally grab it.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


their exchanges of affection still only happen in secret, stolen moments when they’re all alone in baekhyun’s chambers and baekhyun often notices jongdae being jumpy and cautious like someone could enter the room at any time.

jongdae’s still distant whenever he catches a glimpse of baekhyun in the wide halls of the mansion and even if there’s now a small hint of warmth and affection visible in his eyes, it somehow upsets him greatly, when he comes close and the other just bows deeply in front of him and tries to get away from him as quickly as he can without being rude to their prince.  


it upsets him as much as it did before – no, probably even more, now.  


it bothers him so much, that he can’t just press a kiss onto his cheek, because he knows it will make jongdae uncomfortable, that he can’t wrap his fingers around his, because he knows jongdae will step out of reach before he can even raise his hand.  


it hurts him that he can’t show him any tenderness at all and he’s still not even sure why.  


he loves jongdae, but why can’t he tell anyone about it? why can’t he show it to everybody how strongly he feels for him?  


there’s nothing wrong with being in love, so baekhyun just can’t understand why jongdae is trying so hard to keep this as their secret.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


and, maybe, baekhyun tried to grab his happily ever after a bit too early.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


a cheeky grin is sneaking its way onto baekhyun’s lips when he spots his valet standing in the yard, talking to a couple of other attendants, a risky thought bubbling up inside his head and before he can think his idea through properly, his feet already take him outside, his hands pushing the huge glass door to the courtyard open wide.

the attendants all notice him walking over to them rather quickly, everyone hurriedly trying to get back to their work so it wouldn’t look like they were neglecting their duties for some chatter, but baekhyun just makes his way towards jongdae.  


jongdae notices him too, then, but before he can bow down, baekhyun already reaches out and closes his fingers tightly around his wrist to pull him back inside. the other attendants start whispering to each other, visibly confused about their prince’s action, about him touching a servant like this.  


“i need to borrow him for a moment. please continue on with your duties”, baekhyun tells them, smiling warmly at them. jongdae just gasps and clumsily stumbles after him in an attempt to keep up with baekhyun’s pace. “young master, what are you doing?”  


“you’ll see”, baekhyun just answers as he tugs the other with him through the wide hallways. he cautiously looks around, checking if someone saw them passing through, although baekhyun’s aware that the maids will probably always register him when they’re not too busy with their tasks.  


“young master, please let go”, jongdae whispers behind him, trying to free his wrist from his grasp, “the maids are staring after us.”  


but baekhyun doesn’t let go and just turns into a seemingly empty corridor.  


he makes sure that no one’s here for real and then finally releases the other, but only to gently press him back against one of the walls, holding him in place with his own weight.  


a look of panic rushes over jongdae’s face, but baekhyun can feel how he instantly places his hands to rest on his waist, his fingers crumpling wrinkles into baekhyun’s dress shirt. “someone could come right around the corner at any second”, he speaks in a hushed voice, like he’s scared that if he raises his tone just a little bit too much, someone will definitely catch them, “what if someone sees us?”  


baekhyun just smiles at him brightly and leans in closer, his hands sliding over jongdae’s chest and up to his shoulders. “it will be fine”, he mumbles against jongdae’s lips, before placing a quick kiss on them.  


and instead of trying to stop him, jongdae just pulls him in more by the waist, pressing their bodies flush together. he didn’t expect him to do something like this, but it makes baekhyun’s heart skip a beat in excitement, so he kisses him again, eyes fluttering shut when jongdae responds by moving his mouth against his.  


jongdae deepens the kiss with carefully licking into his mouth and baekhyun sighs softly as he eagerly meets his tongue, his hands firmly clutching jongdae’s shoulders.  


“are you out of your mind?”, a voice suddenly says, causing them to immediately break apart and take a step back from each other, only to see kyungsoo standing in front of them, a deep frown on his face as he looks back and forth between the both of them.  


he grabs jongdae, pulling him away from baekhyun. “what, in god’s name, are you doing?”  


and baekhyun just watches silently as the color leaves jongdae’s face, making it glow unhealthily, as his gaze stays fixed onto the marble floor underneath his feet, while kyungsoo scolds him, asking him what the hell he was thinking when he decided to make out with their prince and above all _in plain sight in a damned hallway_ , he rambles something about responsibility and common sense, about duty and their rank in here as servants.  


when he finishes with a heavy sigh, he turns his attention to baekhyun, bowing slightly in front of him. “i’ll take him with me now, young master”, he says stiffly, taking jongdae by the hand and dragging him away.  


baekhyun looks after them, biting down hard on his lip as guilt makes his insides clench uncomfortably together; it was _his_ idea, after all.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


softly, baekhyun’s fingers run over the opened page of the book that’s lying on his lap. with sad eyes he stares at the picture of the prince falling down from the huge tower, in which rapunzel was locked up, and right into the thorn bushes. the poor girl, did she feel as guilty as he does, right now?

his stomach clenches again, making a choking feeling appear in the back of his throat.  


but she still gets her happy ending, heals his blinded eyes with her tears, with her sorrow, with her love.  


_he will get his happy ending too, right?_  


all of a sudden, there’s a sharp knock sounding through the room, startling baekhyun out of his thoughts and the book slips out of his hands and onto the floor with a loud thud as the door opens to reveal jongdae.  


he slips into the room, bowing lightly in front of him.  


baekhyun quickly scrambles from the bed, almost tripping over his own feet as he rushes over to his valet, pulling him into a tight hug. “i’m so sorry, jongdae!”, he whines, bringing a little space between them, so his hands can run through jongdae’s soft hair, over his cheeks to finally rest on his shoulders. “i really am, i never wanted you to get in trouble!”  


jongdae looks at him with softening eyes and chuckles lightly as his arms wrap themselves around baekhyun’s waist. and baekhyun has to swallow down a gasp, because he was sure that jongdae would act cool around him, that he’d try to keep his distance, but instead he pulls him closer like he did hours before in the hallway.  


“kyungsoo was very worried”, jongdae explains, “he was scared that someone else could see us. he won’t tell anyone.”  


baekhyun just nods.  


“he says we should be more careful from now on and he’s right”, he sounds a bit more serious for a moment, before his pretty lips curl upwards again, “he said that he’ll cover for us if we ever need it.”  


and this time, baekhyun lets out a sigh of relief as he buries his face in the nape of jongdae’s neck.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


the relief came a little bit too early, though.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


his eyes are slowly starting to sting and baekhyun yawns, not even bothering to cover his mouth with his hand, he just keeps staring into the boring book in front of him on the desk and flips to the next page.

he’s been hauled up in his study since dawn, reading about the politics of his country for hours, like he does every other day as well, and it’ amazing how all of this never seems to spark his interest, no matter how hard he tries to concentrate on it.  


“you actually seem to be working hard, young master”, a voice suddenly says, tone gentle and hushed and a hand touches his shoulder, fingers softly pressing through the thin fabric of his dress shirt.  


it startles baekhyun so much, he actually violently flinches away from the unexpected touch, his hand flying up to his chest, near where his heart sits, and his fingers clutch his shirt tightly as he looks up. “oh my god”, he sighs loudly, slumping back into the chair, “you almost gave me a heart attack.”  


jongdae just smiles slightly at him, tilting his head to the side in an innocent gesture. “i’m sorry”, he says, but baekhyun thinks, he doesn’t sound apologetic at all.  


he just snorts at him, but then something clicks inside his head. “why are you here?”, he asks, confusion bubbling up in his stomach, because jongdae never comes close to him during the day and the teasing glint in his eyes is odd; he’d never show something like this so clearly outside of the safety of baekhyun’s chambers.  


something’s going on.  


“i brought you tea”, jongdae explains then, making a small hand gesture besides him and baekhyun’s eyes fall onto the tray on the desk with steaming tea already waiting there for him.  


“but why did you bring it?”  


baekhyun is just even more confused now.  


“i passed the maid in the corridor and told her i’ll bring it to you instead”, jongdae says, “i wanted to see you for a bit.”  


he can feel his cheeks heating up at these words; he’s not sure why, but probably because the other has never been this straightforward with him. his eyes shyly wander down to the floor for a moment, a happy smile spreading itself across his lips, before he looks back up at him.  


they just stare at each other lovingly for a while, only to get interrupted by the sound of quick footsteps echoing noisily through the halls.  


baekhyun jumps in his seat, alarmed, but jongdae just continues observing him, then, leans down to press their lips together briefly and baekhyun is so overwhelmed with his unusual behavior, he gets so dizzy that he feels like he’s going to faint at any second.  


when jongdae breaks away again, the smile on his face kind of has a sad touch, baekhyun notices the change immediately, but before he can ask what’s going on, his valet is already three big steps away from him and a maid bursts into the room, bowing breathlessly.  


“the king wants to speak to you, young master.”

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


“ _marry?_ ”, baekhyun just repeats, eyes wide in surprise – or is it shock?

“yes, our dearest son, you heard right”, his mother speaks up this time, voice as sweet as honey and the look in her eyes only showing warmth and kindness, “you’re turning twenty-one next year and since your older brother is going to take over this kingdom, it’s time for you to strengthen our bounds with another kingdom through marriage.”  


and baekhyun can just stare at the king and the queen in disbelief over this entire situation. there are so many emotions rushing through his body, all at the same time.  


this is not true.  


this is not happening.  


“but i don’t want to get married.” it’s a lie, though, because baekhyun would very much like it to marry jongdae. “at least, not to just _anyone_.”  


“there are already a lot of candidates who are ready to compete for your attention. and we thought the best decision would be to let you freely choose who out of them you want to marry.”  


“i don’t want to marry”, baekhyun says with a shaky voice as frustration starts welling up inside him. he clenches his hands into fists, nails forcefully digging red marks into the flesh.  


“it’s time for you to start your own life, your own home, your own family.”  


“i don’t want to marry”, he says more firmly, raising his voice.  


“it’s your duty as prince to—“  


but baekhyun doesn’t let his father finish. “i’m not going to marry anyone”, he yells. some attendants behind him gasp, but then a heavy blanket of silence falls over the great hall.  


“i’m not going to marry anyone”, baekhyun repeats, tears slowly forming in his eyes.  


and then he storms out of the hall.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


burying his face into the soft pillow, baekhyun tries to somehow muffle his screams and wails. he just can’t hold them back, can’t help but shake like a leaf in the merciless wind as one uncontrollable sob after the other make his entire body shudder.

he feels like his heart is split into tiny little pieces, never to be put together again.  


because the thought of marrying someone who’s not jongdae, of spending the rest of his life with a stranger, with someone he doesn’t love, hurts so much.  


all he wants is to be with jongdae.  


he’s not asking for more.  


his happily ever after would never be complete without him.  


he wants to be with jongdae forever.  


baekhyun can hear someone enter the chambers without knocking, but he doesn’t look up, already sure of whom it is and just hides his face even more, presses it deeper into the cushion.  


“young master…”, jongdae whispers, voice hardly audible over baekhyun’s loud sobbing.  


when baekhyun feels his hand on his back, soothingly rubbing circles across it, he detaches himself from the pillow to sit up. “why are they doing this?”, baekhyun sniffs and he must look so incredibly ugly with his eyes all red and puffy from all the crying, with tear streaks and snot covering his face. “this is not fair. how can they demand this from me?”, his voice breaks at the last words as he bursts out into tears again.  


and he just wants the other to wrap his arms around him to comfort him, wants him to ease the sorrow that’s weighing down on his chest, but jongdae just stays silently rooted onto the same spot in front of him, unmoving even as baekhyun reaches out to him weakly.  


“you should do it, young master”, jongdae says then, expression unreadable.  


baekhyun just blinks at him, trying to process his words and he drops his hand back into his lap. “what?”  


“you should do it”, jongdae repeats, “you have no other choice, young master, it _is_ your duty.”  


“you—”, baekhyun just stammers, not able to find any suitable words. but then, the anger from before rises up again, mixing with the sadness and frustration and it all washes over him at once, like a giant wave, it makes his blood boil in his veins, makes him see everything in bright red. there’s no way he can think straight anymore. “out of all the people you are saying this to me?!”, he yells at him and his whole body starts trembling.  


rage rushes through him, it’s burning him up, burning him to ashes and it makes him so dizzy.  


“get out! get out of my sight!”, baekhyun shouts and points his finger to the door. but jongdae doesn’t move, he doesn’t budge, just stares at him and this time it’s his eyes that are wide in surprise, they are filled up with guilt. “i don’t want to see you! _leave!_ ”  


baekhyun can see hurt washing over jongdae’s face, but he doesn’t care; he just wants him to go, he just wants him to leave, he wants him _gone_.  


he never wants to see him again.  


and when jongdae bows hurriedly and flees from the room, baekhyun sinks onto the ground, hiccupping pitifully as the tears seem to never end.  


he hates him. he hates him. he hates jongdae so much.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


jongdae stops to wake baekhyun up with kisses every morning.

and in exchange, baekhyun stops speaking to jongdae completely.


	2. Chapter 2

his favorite storybook yet again sprawled out in front of him, baekhyun flips through the many pages to search for a certain story. he knows the content of the book by heart, knows which fairytale is told on which page and so he finds the one he’s looking for rather quickly.  


it’s ‘the little mermaid’.  


immediately flipping to the last pages of the tale, his eyes scan over the words. there are pictures as well and baekhyun sadly stares at them, tears welling up in his eyes as the little mermaid slowly transforms into sea foam, because even though the prince didn’t return her feelings, she still loved him so much, held him so dear to her heart that she couldn’t manage to kill him.  


she rather preferred to die, for her soul to never find peace.  


she deserved to end up happy, she deserved it so much.  


it upsets baekhyun so much, he can hardly breathe, the choking feeling around his throat only getting tighter every time he tries to suck air into his lungs.  


he coughs up, his heart pounding fast against his chest and he lets himself fall back into his bed, pulling his knees up to his chest and curling into a ball.  


_why did jongdae give up on them?_

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


the king announces a huge feast on behalf of baekhyun, inviting all the sons and daughters from the neighboring kingdoms, so baekhyun can take a good look at them and get to know them, before he decides whom he wishes to marry.  


no matter how many times he protests, how many times he trashes around and shouts that he doesn’t want to marry someone he doesn’t have deeper feelings for, neither the king nor the queen listen to him.  


and baekhyun isn’t strong enough anymore to be stubborn and to keep fighting, so he has to obey their wishes, to give in to his duty as the second prince of their kingdom.  


okay, he’ll speak with the candidates, maybe he’ll even dance with them, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll actually choose one of them. 

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


baekhyun stares down at the tall and lanky boy who's currently sitting in front of him on the cold stone floor, gasping for breath. "you didn't even try, chanyeol", he huffs, annoyed, while crossing his arms in front of his chest.  


the valet doesn't say anything, just slumps backwards and sprawls his limbs out wide, stretching them away from his body.  


baekhyun sighs; this is slowly getting pretty frustrating, they've been practicing for a while now, going over the steps again and again, but they didn't manage to go through the whole dance routine even a single time. he really can't dance, has never had to properly learn it until now, since he's expected to at least know some of the basic steps of the most common standard dances, but he's sure that chanyeol stepped on his feet a lot more often than baekhyun did on his.  


who thought it would be a good idea to let him practice with a guy who's still completely awkward with every single part of his body despite being in the beginning of his twenties?  


another sigh slips past his lips, he's not sure how he's supposed to manage learning all these routines without someone beside him who knows their stuff, who can properly do this and teach him.  


"how is it going?"  


the voice echoing through the room startles him out of his worrying and his eyes wander to the huge doors at the other end of the hall, only to see jongdae standing there, the look on his face seemingly a bit uncertain. baekhyun's shoulders tense up immediately and there's this sting in his chest that lately always appears when he sees the other.  


"not good", he says, lips forming into a sulky pout as he points down at chanyeol, who's still about to doze off on the floor, "he can't dance at all. we're not making any progress, it's impossible to learn this with him."  


jongdae walks over to them, bowing swiftly when he arrives in front of baekhyun. "why, out of all the attendants, is chanyeol teaching you how to dance, young master?", he sounds surprised, probably already aware of how the attendant can't handle his own body.  


"the dance instructor can't come before the night of the ball. one evening is not enough time to learn all of the steps, so i thought, maybe—", baekhyun bubbles out, noticing that this is the first time in over a week that he's spoken this many words to jongdae. it feels weird, or does it make him more upset? he's not sure and just shrugs to complete his explanation.  


then, a slight, unsure looking smile appears on the other's lips. "i can teach you how to dance", he says and turns his face towards the other valet. "chanyeol, can you please turn the music on?", he asks and chanyeol only groans at first, before he slowly raises from the floor to shuffle over the stereo, putting the first track on.  


the instrumental music starts playing, flows softly through the hall as jongdae holds his hand out to baekhyun. baekhyun just stares at it for a moment and bites down on his lower lip, before reaching out and grabbing it.  


jongdae's smile gets a tad wider, as his gaze wanders down to their, now, joined hands and baekhyun's heart starts beating unhealthily fast in his chest.  


he only barely notices chanyeol quietly retreating to leave them alone.  


"okay, let me guide you at first to show you the basic steps and after you internalized them, we switch positions, since you should know both so you're not limited in your choice for dancing partners", jongdae says and he pulls baekhyun carefully closer, placing his other hand on his waist. "put your hand loosely on my shoulder. yes, exactly like this, mh, don't hold on too tight, though, our position should look elegant but relaxed at the same time", he explains, but baekhyun can hardly listen to any his words, too distracted with how close they are, even though there's still a moderate space between them.  


it's been a while since they've been this close to each other; at least, it feels like it's been an eternity, since he’s felt jongdae's warmth on his fingertips.  


he still hasn't forgiven him, baekhyun is still angry at him and hurt by his words, by the fact that he didn’t believe in them, that he gave up on them, but there's no point in trying to deny that he's been longing for him, that not starting the morning with jongdae's lips pressed against his own, and each time he avoided jongdae's gaze, ignored his words, tugged at his heartstrings.  


"if you step on my feet just try to keep going, you have to get a feeling for it first", jongdae continues and baekhyun just nods briefly. "then, shall we start?"  


and then jongdae's already pushing him back, guiding him in a slow pace with steady hands and confident movements while telling him where he should place his feet, where he should step next, which direction; and it kind of is too much, still too fast and overwhelming for baekhyun and he steps on jongdae's feet about four times before the first twirl.  


jongdae only chuckles every time baekhyun mumbles embarrassed apologies, but pulls him along so they keep on dancing.  


"there's something i wanted to ask you", baekhyun says, his eyes locked down onto his own feet to observe his steps so he can concentrate on them better, control them better, because he's not secure enough to look away yet. he's also sure that staring at the other's face wouldn't help him much either, it would only distract him, "where did you learn to dance?"  


jongdae doesn't answer, though, so his eyes flicker up to him and his lips already part to repeat his question, but the other speaks up first, "i missed you", he whispers softy and suddenly there's something incredibly sad glimmering in his eyes.  


baekhyun's heart flips around wildly inside him and he stops dancing, forcing jongdae to halt his movements as well. he swallows hard and squeezes the hand that's still in his.  


"i missed you, too."

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


"come on, let's dance", baekhyun smiles, huge and bright as he tugs on jongdae's hand, tries to pull him with him into the crowd of people that is dancing in their fancy dresses in the middle of the great hall.  


he’s more excited than he thought he’d be. the beautiful music, the sparkling lights and the expensive food, the loud laughter of the amused and maybe also already slightly tipsy guests, everything, the whole atmosphere has charmed baekhyun.  


it’s like he’s in a fairytale, like he got sucked into an actual story, _his story_.  


he is the protagonist of this evening, this is his story and, of course, all of this wouldn’t be complete, wouldn’t be right if he wouldn’t waltz across the wide, enlightened hall with his beloved, with all the other guest’s eyes sticking on them, because they just can’t look away.  


jongdae just shakes his head and flinches uncomfortably, eyes flickering around to check if somebody is watching them, if they’re attracting attention.  


baekhyun huffs and stops with the pulling, but doesn’t let go of the other’s hand. “dance with me”, he says, voice more firm this time, “please?”  


but jongdae just shakes his head again. “i can’t, young master”, he says, his hand trying to wriggle free from baekhyun’s strong hold. “we can’t.”  


“why not?”, baekhyun asks and the smile on his lips slowly crumbles, a frown appearing instead. he just doesn’t understand; jongdae already danced with him when he showed him the steps a couple of days ago, so why can’t they do it now?  


jongdae’s eyebrows knit together into a frown as well, he looks worried. “i’m a servant, young master. you can’t dance with a servant in public, or at all… it’s inappropriate.”  


“inappropriate? why?”  


this is seriously confusing him; it’s just dancing, it shouldn’t matter with whom he does it. why would anyone care about it, if he dances with one of his valets?  


the other just blinks at him, then releases a heavy sigh. “young master, it’s—“  


but they get interrupted by a young man, who’s joining the two of them, gaze locked onto baekhyun. he bows deeply in front of him with an elegant movement and baekhyun just stares at him, because he’s never seen anyone emitting so much confidence, he’s never seen anyone holding their body with such grace.  


the young man is also exceptionally handsome; his sharp jaw line catching baekhyun’s eye right away, as well as the plump, glossy lips that are clouding his mind for a brief moment, making him want to sink his teeth in them just because he’s curious how it would feel like. soft-looking dark brown locks are falling tousled over his forehead, over the beautifully sun-kissed skin.  


“i’m prince jongin”, he introduces himself and his voice is not what baekhyun imagined it to be in these couple of seconds he stared at him, but it’s pleasant to the ears. the prince’s eyes are wandering down to where baekhyun’s fingers are still wrapped around jongdae’s hand, but the valet finally manages to pull out of his grasp and he quickly bows in front of jongin.  


and then there’s a shift in the atmosphere and all the confidence around jongin crumbles as his fingers start to nervously play with the sleeve of his fancy coat. he can hardly look at baekhyun anymore and nervously licks his lips. “p-prince baekhyun”, he squeaks, “would you— would you like to dance with me?”  


“uhm”, baekhyun just says and he looks over to jongdae, whose eyes are cast to the ground. he turns his attention back to the nervous prince and nods lightly. “yes”, he answers and both jongdae and jongin stare at him, the latter’s lips shaping into a gleeful, but still shy smile.  


jongin hesitates a little, but then holds his arm out to baekhyun who slips his own through and then guides them to the middle of the dancing crowd.  


baekhyun dances only with jongin – who turns out to be a rather good dancer, when he’s not stepping on baekhyun’s feet out of nervousness – the whole night and he has to admit, it’s pretty nice, he actually has fun waltzing with the other prince.  


but his eyes still search for jongdae every time jongin twirls him around in circles and he notices that jongdae does the same, that he watches them dancing through the entire ball with a weird expression on his face that baekhyun just can’t quite read.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


even after the end of the ball, after the music in the great hall has faded out and all the guests are soundly sleeping in chambers all around the estate, baekhyun can't find peace, he just can't sleep no matter how hard he tries, no matter how many times he rolls from one side to the other, there's a restlessness inside him.

he knows it's not from excitement and he's exhausted from all the dancing and twirling and spinning around. 

the unease that's crawling deep into his bones, that's making his muscles twitch with the strong urge to move around, comes from something else.

it's longing, he realizes, a faint longing for jongdae.

and it's what makes baekhyun wander through the dark and empty hallways in the middle of the night, barefoot and only in his long nightgown. it's what makes him unconsciously move in the direction of the attendant quarters, even though they're huge and he doesn't know in which of the many rooms jongdae sleeps, even though there's not really a chance that he'll find him.

when music reaches his ears, baekhyun stops his pacing around. 

why is there music playing in the middle of the night, even though the feast ended hours ago?

he looks around, before closing his eyes and listening carefully. taking a couple of steps, he follows the corridor where he thinks the sounds are coming from and in the end, he finds himself in front of the mansion’s kitchen.

light is shining brightly though the opened doors and the music is flowing out of the room loudly, baekhyun can hear it clearly now, they're playing the folk tunes he heard a couple of times when he got the chance to leave the estate grounds. 

curiously, he steps closer to the kitchen entrance, carefully shielding himself behind the doorframe, as he watches some of the attendants dancing and jumping around in the stuffed room, some of them are playing instruments – and he wonders where they got them from, when they learned playing them, because they're doing it so well – while the kitchen boys are washing the many dirty dishes that are still leftover from the actual ball, while swinging their hips and tapping their feet to the rhythm of the music. 

they're all laughing cheerfully and loudly and baekhyun can see that they're having fun. it's kind of fascinating, to just stand there and watch them having their very own feast. to see this side of them, after usually all they do is politely bow in front of him and not meeting his eyes, it's nice to see them in such high spirits.

and as he scans trough them, his eyes fall on somebody in particular, though. he sees jongdae there among the other attendants, jumping around with a smaller girl, lifting her up in his arms and twirling her around as a huge smile rests on his lips.

the corners of his eyes crinkle cutely and baekhyun can hear his loud laughter even through the music and all the other noise.

smiling softly, baekhyun watches him and wonders if these little gatherings are the reason for jongdae's knowledge in common dances.

he feels like he could watch the other for hours, like he could just keep standing there, carefully peeking into the kitchen and continue staring at the gleeful smile on his face. just doing that already helps him with easing the longing that's clinging to his heart.

there's a loud squeal, though, when one of the dancing girls accidentally makes eye contact with him and gets startled. the music stops at once, and everyone follows the girl's gaze, everyone notices baekhyun standing there, half-hidden behind the wall.

a couple of surprised gasps fall from their mouths, because _it's their prince_ —

somehow, baekhyun feels like he got caught in the act, like he got caught while doing something bad, something he's not allowed to do and he feels heat rising up into his cheeks, licking uncomfortable at his neck up to the tip of his ears, it's making him very uncomfortable.

he pushes away from the wall, flailing his hands around wildly as he speaks, "don't— don't let me disturb you", he splutters, completely flustered, "i’m sorry! please, uh, please keep going!" and then he's turning around and hurrying away from the kitchen in an attempt to escape from this embarrassing and unpleasant moment.

however, after only a couple of steps, a hand grabbing his own holds him up, stops him from running away. 

baekhyun turns around to see jongdae in front of him. 

"what are you doing here?"

"i'm— i'm sorry, i couldn't sleep and i just wandered around and— ah, then i heard the music and—", he cuts himself off, feels stupid for his nervous rambling. jongdae staring at him isn't helping either with the way he just blinks at him.

but then the smile is coming back again, tugging the corners of his lips upwards and baekhyun's heart starts beating faster because of something else than embarrassment. 

jongdae squeezes his hand gently. "stay", he says.

"what?"

the other nods and pulls him with him back to the kitchen. "come with me", he laughs and even after they press past the other attendants and maids and stand in the middle of them, jongdae doesn't let go of his hand.

everyone is still completely quiet, though, still confused over the fact that the youngest prince is standing amongst them, in nothing more than a thin nightgown. but then jongdae holds up their intertwined hands into the air. "let's show our prince how a real feast looks like", he excitedly shouts through the room and everyone joins him with cheers.

the music picks up again and the attendants go back to their happy dancing.

jongdae as well, as he pulls baekhyun along, holding on tightly to his hands. 

baekhyun laughs with him, not able to hide the happy grin that's all over his face. and as they spin around in circles, baekhyun thinks he's never felt more free before, he's never been this happy.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


soft lips pressing fleeting kisses across his cheek, pull him away from his peaceful slumber and baekhyun groans as he moves around underneath the sheets, limbs heavy and still exhausted from a night filled with too much dancing.

he can hardly blink his eyes open and it's even harder to keep them from fluttering shut again. he wants to sleep a while longer, but jongdae isn't granting him that wish and pokes his index finger into his cheek. "rise and shine", he chirps, sounding way too cheerful and motivated for their circumstances. 

"how can you not be at least a little bit tired?", baekhyun mumbles, voice a little hoarse from all the laughter he shared with the attendants, as he nuzzles more into the comfortable and cozy duvet. it would be nice if he could stay in bed all day, wrapped up in them.

jongdae just laughs and gets up from the bed, walking over to the closet. "lots of practice", he smiles brightly and winks at him.

baekhyun wonders how much sleep he gets every night, but he quickly pushes these thoughts away, for now. "i had so much fun", he says then, a drowsy smile stretching across his lips.

the other turns his attention away from the closet and looks at him over his shoulder. "me too. it was great." and they just stay like this, smiling at each other.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -  


  
  


  
  


jongin has been staying over in their mansion as one of their guests for a while now, and baekhyun has to admit that it makes him very happy.

it's nice to have someone your age around you, who kind of knows what you're going through. and he's aware of how dramatic this sounds, but as a prince there's a lot of pressure resting on baekhyun's shoulders. he has to learn a variety of things, like the history of their country and proper etiquette, he gets lessons every single day and the people of their kingdom have high expectations of him, even if his older brother is the actual crown prince who will rule over them one day, they still watch him with curious and admiring eyes as well.

since he's a prince as well, jongin knows the responsibility all too well. 

it's kind of the reason that got them closer together and baekhyun actually thinks of the boy as a very good friend, by now. he's just a really adorable person, always shy and kind, he's polite but still fun to be around and baekhyun thinks that jongin is a person he can talk to well, sometimes they sit around just talking for hours about everything and anything.

one time, jongdae had to get him from his study, because he got completely lost in his conversation with the other prince. his valet seemed rather displeased back then, baekhyun is still not sure why.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


this time he's back in his study together with jongin.

baekhyun is sitting at his desk, books about history and politics sprawled out in front of him, like usual, while jongin is sitting on the windowsill, sleepily flipping through a book as well.

"do you like fairytales, jongin?", baekhyun asks then, closing the book in front of him noisily, before turning on his chair to gaze at the other.

jongin looks up from his reading and his eyes start twinkling softly, expression more awake, now. he nods, "yes, i actually really love them!"

a happy grin tugs at baekhyun's lips. "what's your favorite tale?", he asks and jongin thinks for a moment, fingers drumming on his cheek.

"beauty and the beast."

baekhyun beams at him, since he loves this story a lot as well. he quickly jumps off his chair, almost toppling over in his haste and he sprints over to the bookshelves, looking through them for something particular. "ah, found it“, he exclaims happily and pulls one book out of the top rows.

it's not as huge as the fairytale book he has hidden inside his nightstand, and he thinks the illustrations are not as pretty as the ones in his favorite book, either, but baekhyun still loves it. he loves every book that provides him with the beautiful stories of how love always wins, that provides him with the happy endings he so desperately wishes to find for himself too.

he puts it on his desk, searching for jongin's favorite tale, as the other moves to stand by his side, looking curiously over his shoulder.

they just look through their stories, baekhyun shows him the ones he loves the most, while he is totally engrossed into the one's he's never read before.

and he's not sure how long they sit there, just squealing over all those sometimes cheesy, sometimes heartbreaking stories, but the only thing that manages to pull his attention away is a sudden, loud noise at the door.

but as they both turn around to look, nobody's there.

baekhyun gets up and walks over to the entrance, peeks out from the room, only to catch jongdae walking away from the study and down the hallway in quick steps.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


"sleep well", jongdae says softly and slowly gets up from the bed, but baekhyun quickly slips his hand out from beneath the heavy duvet to clasp his fingers firmly around jongdae's wrist to keep him from leaving the room.

he pulls him back down onto the bed and jongdae looks at him, eyes asking him what’s wrong in an unspoken question.

"stay", he whispers.

jongdae just stares blankly at him for a couple of seconds. " _what?_ "

"stay the night."

“i can’t”, he answers as he tries to gently pull his wrist out of baekhyun’s grip. baekhyun notices the way his shoulders tense up when his weak attempts fail, but he still doesn’t let go of him.

"please."

“young master, i can’t”, jongdae repeats himself, his eyes flicker around the room as if someone could walk in on them at any second and catch them being too close to each other. “what if—“

baekhyun interrupts him, shaking his head, "nobody is allowed to enter my chambers before you send out the request for breakfast in the morning. it's fine, nobody will notice." and he's sure that kyungsoo will cover for jongdae, when he doesn't show up in the servant quarters later.

jongdae still looks unsure, the worry is still written all over his features but he can see him slowly giving in by the way he stops trying to free himself from his hold. 

“please stay”, he says again and watches how the other licks over his lips in a nervous manner before nodding slightly.  


and then, baekhyun finally releases his hold on him and lets him go.  


jongdae gets up from the bed and he looks completely lost for a moment, but then just lightly shakes his head and walks over to baekhyun's closet to take another nightshirt out of it. he stays with his back turned to baekhyun as he starts removing his pants and dress shirt, folding them neatly together before placing them on the dresser. 

baekhyun just stares at his back, watches his shoulder blades move underneath the skin as the other pulls the gown over his head and he swallows hard. and when jongdae turns around again, red dusting his cheeks and his eyes cast away from him, baekhyun lifts the duvet up for him invitingly as he shuffles back a bit to the middle of the bed to make more room for him.

jongdae finally crawls underneath the covers and they roll on their sides, just stare at each other for a long moment, before jongdae moves a bit closer and wraps an arm around baekhyun's waist to pull him in.

it makes baekhyun's heart flop around wildly inside his chest and he wonders if jongdae's heart is pounding as fast as his, if he can hardly breathe as well because of how close they are, how close their faces are.

"are you nervous?", he asks him in a hushed, shaky voice.

"yes", jongdae whispers back, almost inaudible.

"me too", but as he speaks, a wave of courage is rushing through his entire body, a shower of need runs over his spine and he sits back up, one hand finding its way to jongdae's shoulder to push him onto his back.

he crawls on top of him to straddle his hips, the duvet sliding down from his shoulders and over his back as he hovers over the other, who's staring at him wide eyed.

"what—"

baekhyun lets both of his hands rest on jongdae's shoulders to softly press him more into the mattress, leaning down until he can feel the other's erratic breathing against his mouth.

"what are you doing—"

but he doesn't answer, just leans in a little more, his lips ghosting over jongdae's, almost touching them.

"b-baekhyun."

he smiles slightly at the mention of his name, loves hearing it coming from the other's mouth. it's been ages since he last heard jongdae say his name, the last time probably was when they were still younger, because now he only calls him young master all the time. he removes one of his hands from jongdae’s shoulders to caress his cheek, fingertips tracing lightly over the beautiful, high cheekbones.

jongdae sucks in a sharp breath and then baekhyun closes the space between them and captures his lips in a kiss, his own eagerly moving against his.

the other gasps, but responds immediately and kisses him back, then puts his hands on baekhyun's hips, fingers clutching his nightgown for support.

this time baekhyun's the one that deepens the kiss, slipping his tongue into jongdae's mouth to impatiently explore the inside, tracing the row of teeth. jongdae's tongue meets his and baekhyun can hardly bite back a moan at how good the wet sensation feels. he sucks on the other's bottom lip, only to sink in his teeth and then suck some more, drawing a quiet groan out of him.

he feels it running through his whole body and he wants to hear it again, he wants more lovely sounds to fall from jongdae's tongue.

so, he rotates his hips a little, rolls them down experimentally and they both moan, surprised at how good the sudden friction feels. jongdae's fingers dig into his hips, guiding them down again as his own buckle up lightly. they moan again and baekhyun watches through half-lidded eyes as jongdae presses his head back into the pillow, eyes squeezed shut and lips parted just slightly.

he looks so beautiful.

"i—", he starts, but cuts himself off as pleasure makes him shudder. he continues to rub himself against jongdae and swallows back another moan. the other's eyes flutter open again. "i want you", he breathes, chewing nervously on his own lip, "i want you so much."

"i want you, too, baekhyun", jongdae whispers softly, shyly and baekhyun leans down to lock their lips again.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


jongdae's gone when baekhyun wakes up early the next morning, the space next to him is cold and empty and only the wrinkled sheets are proof that somebody slept there.

baekhyun's not surprised, though, and he shuffles a little over, presses his face into the pillow and inhales the scent of sweat, sex and something that’s just unmistakably _jongdae_ , that is sticking to the fabric.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


for the first time ever, jongdae doesn't come to wake him up. it's chanyeol instead, who draws the curtains open and talks to him in a too loud and goofy voice, almost yelling through the other side of the room in hopes of pulling baekhyun out of his dreams.

he's highly confused, when chanyeol's toothy grin greets him.

"where is jongdae?", he rasps sleepily, his throat feels sore from last night, it's uncomfortable. 

and chanyeol shrugs, "he literally begged me to take over for him? i don't know why, young master."

there's a stab in his heart.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


so during the afternoon, baekhyun requests a maid to bring jongdae to his chambers. 

he sits on his bed and waits, his leg nervously bouncing up and down. when there's a sharp knock on the door, he almost jumps.

“you’ve asked for me, young master?”, jongdae asks after closing the door quietly behind him. he bows deeply in front of him and baekhyun sighs in frustration at the polite gesture. 

"you asked chanyeol to wake me up", he says, "why are you avoiding me?"

jongdae just looks at him, not saying anything for something that feels like an eternity for baekhyun. "this shouldn't have happened", jongdae tells him eventually, voice calm and distant.

"do you regret it?"

again, the other doesn't answer right away and his eyes wander to the floor. 

"jongdae, do you regret what happened?"

"i—", jongdae licks over his lips, "i— it's not— but, ah. it’s just— we can't be together."

baekhyun notices, that he's avoiding the question. "why not? it's okay, we can make it."

this time, something shifts in the other's expression; a frown appears on his forehead and he rolls his eyes, seemingly annoyed. the calmness is gone completely when he snarls, "stop it! stop with all this daydreaming, this is not a story from one of your stupid books. this is reality." his chest heaves with every word and baekhyun can see how his hands curl into fists. " _we have no future together!_ "

"we can make it", baekhyun repeats, the tone in his voice more firm as he stands up. he can feel frustration and anger bubbling up inside him.

"this is not a fairytale where everything ends up fine, why can't you see that? this is not meant to be, we're not meant to be together", jongdae's almost shouting at him, "you're not a little kid anymore, why are you still like this? just stop!"

"why are you doing this again? why are you not fighting for this?!", baekhyun yells as well.

"because there's no point in fighting!”  


" _why are you giving up on us again?!_ "  


"i wasn't supposed to fall for you in the first place!" his eyes grow wide as he realizes what he's just said and he mumbles the words again, quietly this time, "i wasn't supposed to fall for you." and the tension from his body is gone, his arms hang limp besides him. 

jongdae looks defeated and all the negative feelings are instantly gone, like they were never even there.

"are you in love with me?"

there's no answer, so baekhyun closes the distance between them. "jongdae, do you love me?", he asks again.

"yes."

baekhyun smiles faintly and takes jongdae's hand in his, which causes him to tear his eyes away from the floor. baekhyun presses kisses onto his knuckles. "then you should believe in us. we will find a way to make this work."

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


"do you think a prince and a valet can be together?", baekhyun asks as he's sitting together with jongin in the safety of his study room. he's trying to be nonchalant, flipping a page in his book and not looking up to hide the expectantly glint in his eyes.

"why?", jongin asks back, oddly straightforward, "are you in love with one?"

baekhyun splutters, but tries to regain his composure as fast as possible. it doesn't work that well, however, because he can feel a dark blush tinting his cheeks. "it's just... a question. so, what do you say?", he mumbles, unskillfully trying to talk himself out of this.

the other prince just smiles at him knowingly. "there's a king who once married a commoner. actually, i think it happened quite a few times in the past", he tells him, "i will see if i can find some documents for you to proof it."  


and baekhyun beams, grinning widely at him.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


jongdae looks at him, concern and worry clearly visible in his eyes.

"are you sure about this?", he asks and his voice shakes a little, he sounds uncertain.

baekhyun looks up from the documents jongin got him. a soft smile spreads across his lips and he reaches for the other's hand, lacing their fingers together. "yes, i am", he says, leaning over to press a kiss on jongdae's cheek. "everything will be fine, i'm sure of it."

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


baekhyun will fight for his, no— _their_ happy ending.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


most of the attendants are gathered in the great hall, because of the big announcement baekhyun is going to make. he can feel their eyes on them, full with anticipation as he stands in front of their king and their queen, in front of his father and mother.

baekhyun looks over his shoulder one last time, searching for jongdae in the crowd. he's standing next to kyungsoo, almost clinging to him nervously while he watches him with concerned eyes. baekhyun flashes him a smile and then returns his attention back to the king and the queen.

"i decided whom i would like to marry", baekhyun says, his voice firm and serious.

his parents look pleased, soft smiles appear on their faces as they look at him expectantly, patiently waiting for his answer. he wonders if they think that he's going to name jongin, since he's been staying at their mansion for a long time now as guest, since they spend so much time together.

"i've decided to marry none of the candidates you picked for me", he starts, taking a deep breath for his following words, "because there is someone who stole my heart long before any of them could. dear father, dear mother, i'm asking for your blessing to marry my valet, kim jongdae." 

baekhyun turns around and points to jongdae in the crowd. there are shocked gasps and everyone's eyes fall on the valet, who's uncomfortably squirming under all the attention and just pressing more to kyungsoo’s side.

"my son, he's just a mere servant", his father says, but before he can say more baekhyun interrupts him.

"excuse me, father", he puts in, before continuing, "there are records of princes who chose commoners as their husbands and wives. it used to be frowned upon, i'm aware of this, but these days it's nothing unusual anymore."

jongin emerges from the crowd and with a deep bow in front of the king, he hands the documents over to him. 

"if i'm allowed to say so, i think it's very important. it's easier to communicate and bound with the people of our kingdom if their ruler is one of them. a commoner faced the same troubles as them, problems we will never fully understand because we never experienced them.  


instead of focusing on obtaining one kingdom after kingdom, we should concentrate more on our own people and on ruling our kingdom in a better way."

everyone is quiet when baekhyun finishes up and for a moment his confidence wavers a little, but then there's someone clapping, it's echoing in the silent hall.

"this is the first time you are acting like an actual king", his brother says, still applauding as he walks over to him. he stops and places both of his hands on baekhyun's shoulders. "i'm proud of you, dear little brother, be with your beloved, you have my blessings."

and he can't stop the huge smile that tugs at his lips, it feels like it's going to split his face in half. he looks over to his father and mother, who are talking to each other in hushed voices, before they both stand up.

his father clears his throat and his mother smiles gently at him. "as you wish, my son, you are allowed to marry your valet, kim jongdae."

"the both of you have our blessings and we wish you happiness and luck for your shared future", his mother finishes and with her words all the attendants break out in loud cheers and clapping.

baekhyun bows deeply in front of his parents to show them his gratitude, before he spins around, eyes searching for jongdae who's pressing himself past the other servants. and baekhyun starts running across the hall, literally jumping into the other's embrace, cupping his face with his hands.

jongdae beams at him with a beautiful, gleeful smile as he wraps his arms tightly around baekhyun, presses them together. "i can't believe that you did it!", he yells, all the nervousness and worry gone, replaced by pure happiness.

"i told you it's going to be fine", baekhyun laughs, thumbs gently running over the other's cheeks. "this is our happy ending, jongdae." 

"i love you."

"i love you, too", he answers affectionately and finally leans in to press their lips together in a kiss.

  
  


  
  


\- - - - - - - -

  
  


  
  


_and they lived happily ever after._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments would be very appreciated;  
> also, you can follow me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/softbaekchen) ♥


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